What should a beginner's weekly grocery list look like?

whirlpool

A person starting training, whose general, primary goals are to build muscle and drop body-fat - what do you think their weekly grocery list should look like?

Presuming there is nothing they won't eat, and sticking with the supermarket staples, for simplicity.

How many chicken breasts? How much mince beef? How much fruit and green veg, and eggs? What else?

Alf Veedersane

How long is a piece of string?

Sit down, write out what you are going to eat for the week, then what it will take to make what you want to eat for the week, and that's your shopping list.

There isn't really a rule of thumb. You can buy as much meat as you want, portion it off and freeze it.

whirlpool

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

How long is a piece of string?

Sit down, write out what you are going to eat for the week, then what it will take to make what you want to eat for the week, and that's your shopping list.

There isn't really a rule of thumb. You can buy as much meat as you want, portion it off and freeze it.

I didn't mean it quite so literally.

Alf Veedersane

whirlpool wrote: »

I didn't mean it quite so literally.

Then maybe just ask what you want to know so that people who are willing to help can help.

whirlpool

Ah no. I feel like the OP is clear enough.

Alf Veedersane

Just not so literally.

Fair enough.

jane82

3 or 4 chickens. 6 pork chops. 20 eggs. @ ten litres of milk.
Whatever veg is 39p special in lidl. For example a lump of broccoli and cauliflour. Could be stuck with anything though.
Potatoes and rice but I dont eat a full bag of spuds a week like.
3 or 4 jars of sauce.
A tub of butter. A bit of cheddar.
This week 6x7 cans of tuborg but back on the wagon now.
Sometimes I have to share the chicken a bit and the sauces.
When I get too fat I eat less when I get too weak I begin eating more again.
Tub of pb when going up in weight no pb whrn going down.

Edit misread that. Hats my grocery list Ive no idea what a beginner should eat. Dont buy all your chickens at once they be gone off by the end of the week.

runawaybishop

whirlpool wrote: »

A person starting training, whose general, primary goals are to build muscle and drop body-fat - what do you think their weekly grocery list should look like?

Presuming there is nothing they won't eat, and sticking with the supermarket staples, for simplicity.

How many chicken breasts? How much mince beef? How much fruit and green veg, and eggs? What else?

I buy however many chicken breasts my butcher has on offer (he does protein packs where I'd get 4 and some other stuff and deals where I'd get 10), 2 lbs of mince, 2lbs of stewing steak, 6-12 burgers and a big steak. I portion this stuff off and freeze it so I can cook it when I need it, when I run out I buy the same again. I buy fish in the fishmongers when I remember to also, but that's more sporadic.

Fruit wise i buy a bag/punnet of apples, oranges, grapes if lidl have them for 2 yoyo, bananas and if they have peaches/nectarines/kiwi etc on offer i'll pick them up too. I don't buy eggs because i get them free but i don't eat them that often, maybe 2-4 at the weekend so 12 as week would be fine. Green veg would be 2-3 salad bags and some frozen veg mix.

I also have nasty processed food in the freezer for days when I forget to unfreeze meat or have no time to prep food.

conzy

Just as a rough example I bought this the other day for ~€45



Other stuff that will be eaten this week that isn't pictured:

Greek yogurt
Rice Cakes
Peanut Butter
more chicken

homemadecider

Hi OP

I think it's worth making a food plan for the week ahead, then making your shopping list around that. I do this every week and it's very handy - I never come home from work and have to think about what to have for dinner as it's already planning and sometimes even pre-prepared if I've made it in advance.

Here's an example of this week's plan - this is for 2 people.

Breakfasts are the same everyday: Greek yogurt, blueberries, seeds. I like to add some tinned fruit too. Weekend breakfasts are egg-based.

Lunches are comprised of mixed salads prepacked in lunchboxes (leaves, nuts, cheese, eggs, veg).

Dinners:

Monday - Roast chicken, sweet potato, peas, parsnips, homemade gravy
Tuesday - Same as yesterday
Wednesday - Chicken fried rice (end of the roast chicken, rice, mushrooms, green beans, peas, eggs)
Thursday - going out to dinner
Friday - Bolognese with spaghetti, broccoli & green beans
Saturday - Fish pie
Sunday - Fish pie

Once we make the week's plan as above then we go through everything we will need and make the shopping list. Add on any household items/ cleaning products etc and that's the list done. It's a good way to make sure you don't overspend and it limits waste.

JJayoo

Many different cakes

mickman

conzy wrote: »

Just as a rough example I bought this the other day for ~€45



Other stuff that will be eaten this week that isn't pictured:

Greek yogurt
Rice Cakes
Peanut Butter
more chicken

get rid of everything in tins and the frozen veg and you will be closer to eating right

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

get rid of everything in tins and the frozen veg and you will be closer to eating right

What with all the toxins in frozen veg.

Mr. CooL ICE

mickman wrote: »

get rid of everything in tins and the frozen veg and you will be closer to eating right

Why?

mickman

LordChessington wrote: »

Why?

tinned food is crap

frozen veg from large suppliers is crap

also get rid of the salami (if im correct in saying its in the picture)

Alf Veedersane

LordChessington wrote: »

Why?

Cancer, probably.

Frozen veg is great

mickman

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

What with all the toxins in frozen veg.

picked in some far off country , no idea if product was ripe when it was picked. no idea of what was done to produce after it was picked. It was placed in boiling water to kill bacteria (there is most of the vitamins gone) and most importantly they taste like plastic

Stench Blossoms

And coconut milk doesn't come in a carton.

runawaybishop

mickman wrote: »

picked in some far off country , no idea if product was ripe when it was picked. no idea of what was done to produce after it was picked. It was placed in boiling water to kill bacteria (there is most of the vitamins gone) and most importantly they taste like plastic

But you have no issue with the chicken :pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

tinned food is crap

frozen veg from large suppliers is crap

If it's any consolation, the horseshít you're spouting is fresh.

mickman

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

If it's any consolation, the horseshít you're spouting is fresh.

dear god but you have some chip on your shoulder. Try not to be so angry and agressive. We are all entitled to post on this forum and you seem to think that you are better than everybody.

Maybe you should do some work and stop posting on forums ALL day

Essien

mickman wrote: »

tinned food is crap

frozen veg from large suppliers is crap

also get rid of the salami (if im correct in saying its in the picture)

Do you just walk around eating leaves and berries off trees or something?

Every other post seems to be about some remote, vague threat that exists in everything we eat .

mickman

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

If it's any consolation, the horseshít you're spouting is fresh.

if you think tinned food is good for you then god help you

mickman

Essien wrote: »

Do you just walk around eating leaves and berries off trees or something?

Every other post seems to be about some remote, vague threat that exists in everything we eat .

yes, the modern food chain is in a very bad state

ryan101

jane82 wrote: »

3 or 4 chickens. 6 pork chops.

I would be careful what chickens and pork you buy, chickens and pigs on some farms are pumped full of antibiotics and all sorts of other treatments just so they live until market delivery time. I've seen this first hand myself.

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

picked in some far off country , no idea if product was ripe when it was picked. no idea of what was done to produce after it was picked. It was placed in boiling water to kill bacteria (there is most of the vitamins gone) and most importantly they taste like plastic

Blanching doesn't remove all that much of the nutrients and then they're flash frozen to lock in the 95% of the rest.

Aside from that, no one would suggest they're more nutritious than ripe, in-season produce.

But frozen veg has its place. To suggest it's tastless and with no nutrients is nonsense.

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

if you think tinned food is good for you then god help you

It's not bad for you.

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

dear god but you have some chip on your shoulder. Try not to be so angry and agressive. We are all entitled to post on this forum and you seem to think that you are better than everybody.

Don't worry. I'm not angry.

I just disagree with your assertion that everything that isn't consumed at source is bad for you.

mickman

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It's not bad for you.

tinned food is full of salt and other chemicals

im glad you are not angry but you must admit that food consumed at source is better for you than processed food

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

tinned food is full of salt and other chemicals

Lots of tinnes food isn't full of salt. There is a suggestion that the likes of BPA is present where the contents of the can are more acidic and the lining of the can is prone to leach it into it. But I don't use chopped tomatoes every day or all that often so I'm not likely to overdose in it anytime soon.

Most people use canned food for convenience but not every day so I don't see it as a problem.

mickman wrote: »

im glad you are not angry but you must admit that food consumed at source is better for you than processed food

I never for a minute suggested it wasn't. I just suggested that canned food and processed food are not bad for you and especially not in the context of the levels at which most people consume them.

mickman

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Lots of tinnes food isn't full of salt. There is a suggestion that the likes of BPA is present where the contents of the can are more acidic and the lining of the can is prone to leach it into it. But I don't use chopped tomatoes every day or all that often so I'm not likely to overdose in it anytime soon.

Most people use canned food for convenience but not every day so I don't see it as a problem.

I never for a minute suggested it wasn't. I just suggested that canned food and processed food are not bad for you and especially not in the context of the levels at which most people consume them.

not sure. A lot of people consume huge ammounts of canned / convenient food. Anyway thats not our issue so its irrelevant.

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

not sure. A lot of people consume huge ammounts of canned / convenient food. Anyway thats not our issue so its irrelevant.

I don't know any.

But in the context of the photo of food that was posted, I don't see a problem with the canned food that was present.

ryan101

Is all this arguing really that healthy ? Mind and spirit is also important as well as body.

typicalstudent

You can often get a large box of like 60 chicken breasts in your local butchers. Not ideal if you haven't got the storage but freezing them and using them as needed, like cook 4 at a time and just leave them in the fridge for the day or two before you eat them. Buying in bulk is obviously a lot cheaper, again, storage is the only problem.

jane82

ryan101 wrote: »

I would be careful what chickens and pork you buy, chickens and pigs on some farms are pumped full of antibiotics and all sorts of other treatments just so they live until market delivery time. I've seen this first hand myself.

I spent my teens and 20s pumping my body full of all sorts a few digested antibiotics isnt going to worry me.

Tar.Aldarion

LordChessington wrote: »

Why?

Because frozen veg tastes like much compared to good veg.
I doubt there is much nutritionally different between commercial veg and frozen veg, as both process remove nutrients from the food to a similar degree.

jane82

I smoke about ten , fifteen cigs a day depending on whether Im drinking like a pirate or not.
Will changing the frozen veg to fresh veg cancel this out?



:•)

homemadecider

mickman wrote: »

tinned food is full of salt and other chemicals

No salt in tinned fruit, which is what it looks like at the front of the pic that was posted.

cson

homemadecider wrote: »

No salt in tinned fruit, which is what it looks like at the front of the pic that was posted.

Tinned fruit is jammed with sugar though, so just be wary of that.

The photo posted is probably a healthier shop than 90% of the population; tinned sweetcorn (?) and frozen veg aren't exactly packed full of sugar and salt.

Personally I'd aim to get 50% of what I eat from fresh sources, not always possible but always worth the effort imo.

jane82

cson wrote: »

Tinned fruit is jammed with sugar though, so just be wary of that.

The photo posted is probably a healthier shop than 90% of the population; tinned sweetcorn (?) and frozen veg aren't exactly packed full of sugar and salt.

Personally I'd aim to get 50% of what I eat from fresh sources, not always possible but always worth the effort imo.

Theres sugar in the tinned fruit but not the tinned veg? Well I never....... I wonder whats causeing that.

Its like somebody took all the sugar out of the vegetables.

Mellor

mickman wrote: »

It was placed in boiling water to kill bacteria (there is most of the vitamins gone)

But boiling/cooking/roasting at home won't have the same effect. :rolleyes:

Plus Freezing it some after picking stops nutrients dropping further. Something in the supermarket might be a few days old, at best.

conzy

You are some Buzz Killington mickman

I feel my nutrition is better than 99% of the population, a few slices of salami and a tinned grapefruit over a week are not going to make or break me. As you can see the rest of the diet is "chemical and salt" free

I definitely look and feel better than when my diet was weetabix, chicken fillet rolls, chocolate and coke

cson

jane82 wrote: »

Theres sugar in the tinned fruit but not the tinned veg? Well I never....... I wonder whats causeing that.

Its like somebody took all the sugar out of the vegetables.

Natural sugars fyi :rolleyes:

If you look at the metrics on a tinned fruit can you'll see that one tin will typically have >50% of your daily sugar requirements.

Alf Veedersane

The Green Giant eats frozen veg and he's in good shape (no homo).

jane82

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The Green Giant eats frozen veg and he's in good shape (no homo).

He always seems in good spirits too.

ryan101

That's because he knows frozen veg are picked and frozen right away

mickman

Mellor wrote: »

But boiling/cooking/roasting at home won't have the same effect. :rolleyes:

Plus Freezing it some after picking stops nutrients dropping further. Something in the supermarket might be a few days old, at best.

of course doing that at home will have the same effect. Where did i say that i boil veg? or roast it ?

i steam for 2 mins

mickman

conzy wrote: »

You are some Buzz Killington mickman

I feel my nutrition is better than 99% of the population, a few slices of salami and a tinned grapefruit over a week are not going to make or break me. As you can see the rest of the diet is "chemical and salt" free

I definitely look and feel better than when my diet was weetabix, chicken fillet rolls, chocolate and coke

fair enough. the diet in the picture is much better than what you used to be on in fairness.

mickman

jane82 wrote: »

I smoke about ten , fifteen cigs a day depending on whether Im drinking like a pirate or not.
Will changing the frozen veg to fresh veg cancel this out?



:•)

you sound like a real catch :-)

jane82

mickman wrote: »

of course doing that at home will have the same effect. Where did i say that i boil veg? or roast it ?

i steam for 2 mins

Do you not feel you are worrying too much?
Are you training for olympic medals or just trying to ward off the illness?